1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag device for a vehicle that protects an occupant with an airbag that deploys by gas pressure upon receiving an impact such as during a vehicle collision.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-070988, filed Mar. 15, 2006, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
There are known airbag devices for vehicles in which an airbag deploys between an occupant and a vehicle body side portion during a collision.
For example, in the airbag device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-108835, the airbag is housed in a folded state in the seat back of a front seat. When a sensor detects the input of an impact, the inflator supplies high-pressure gas to the airbag, causing the airbag to inflate between the occupant and the vehicle body side portion.
However, the structure of such a conventional airbag device causes the airbag to largely deploy in the vertical direction of the vehicle body. As a result, it is difficult to secure the expansion dimension of the airbag in the vehicle width direction during deployment, and variations in the vertical height of the airbag easily occur during deployment.